Denis Walker

(1947)

Source: Penny Tweedie Collection, Mitchell
Library, State Library of New South Wales

Denis Walker, Kath Walker's eldest son, was born in 1947. His
political life began with the formation, in 1969, of the Brisbane
Tribal Council. When the federal movement in Aboriginal affairs
split at the 1970 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines
and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) meeting, Denis was a central
figure in the development of the National Tribal Council, which
came into existence that year. He was a hardworking president of
the organisation in 1971, but for a number of reasons the National
Tribal Council only lasted for a few years. It was the first
national all-Indigenous political body and Walker, with Bruce
McGuinness, Harry Penrith and Bob Maza, espoused an ideology which
promoted 'black control of black affairs'. In 1972, Denis formed
the Black Panther Party, which threatened the use of violence in
working for a just cause such as the return of Aboriginal lands.
This organisation also had a fairly short life.